Meaning and recognition
Intangible assets are identifiable non-monetary resources without physical substance. They may include particular licences, rights and software products when the recognition conditions are met. A useful idea, a well-known brand or employees’ expertise does not automatically become a separate asset: accounting requires support for control, expected benefits and measurement.
If a company acquires the right to use software in its activities, the cost of that right may be accounted for as an intangible asset. The cost of training employees to use the software will not necessarily form part of the same asset. The contract and accounting rules matter more than the general name of the purchase.
Limits of the category
Intangible assets should not be mixed up with goodwill or with any general “value of the business”. Check which items have been recognized, their useful lives and whether there are signs of impairment. Two companies with similar technologies may report different carrying amounts because of how they acquired them and the history of their expenditure. Related reading: [intangible assets](/guides/intangible-assets/), [assets](/glossary/aktivy/) and [amortization](/glossary/amortizaciya/).